reasons to believe

ED officers at the door, a search that runs all day, bank accounts frozen by evening — the ED raid is the most dramatic weapon in the PMLA arsenal. Yet Sections 17 and 18 hedge that weapon with strict conditions: written “reasons to believe,” sealed-cover reporting, a 30-day retention deadline, and personal-search safeguards. Drawing from my PMLA practice, this guide explains what the ED can and cannot do during a raid, your rights room by room, the Opto Circuit rule that has unfrozen countless bank accounts, and the remedies that follow — with links to the judgments and to every connected stage of the ED process.